As mobile devices become more powerful and flexible in operation, such devices are being utilized for new purposes. However, such mobile devices are power constrained under many workloads and operating environments. These power limitations are driven by issues such as decreasing form factors, user preference for passively cooled designs, and increasing number of IP (Internet Protocol) and I/O (Input/Output) devices. At the same time, mobile systems are taking on more computationally intensive tasks and require higher level of performance to deliver responsiveness and fluid user experience.
Because most mobile applications events are by their nature brief in operation with long periods of idleness, systems on chips (SoCs) and other mobile computing systems often support a mode or operation, which may be referred to as a Turbo mode, in which steady state power constraints/limits can be exceeded provided that there is energy available in an energy budget, with the energy budget being replenished when the system is idle or is in another reduced operation state. The energy budget is intended to protect the system from excessive thermal energy while allowing the operation of brief events that may exceed steady state limits.
However, such conventional energy budgeting does not provide support for operations and services (generally referred to as system events) that require maximum performance even when energy budget is not available and the system is operating under steady state power and thermal constraints. As a result, device performance and user experience may be severely affected in a depleted energy budget state as the implementation of events, including events that are essential for proper user experience, are throttled back.